Nameless King

The very last measure a fighter could take to win a battle was to burn his own soul. This almost always resulted in death, as it took many special artifacts or a huge amount of energy to restore the damaged soul, which could be compared to how much was burned.

The energy in the souls was special because it was a concentration of all the energy a person absorbed before, so even to restore 1% of a soul, it could take several legendary souls or literally millions of ordinary souls and they had to be used as quickly as possible to avoid death.

It was a desperate move since fighters decided to burn their souls only in desperate situations, so it didn't help most of them anyway, however, sometimes it could not only save a life but also help them become stronger after a very hard test.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Wain's soul trembled at his will it began burning at a tremendous rate. It was hard to comprehend how big his soul was, for it was hidden inside his mind and even Wain didn't fully understand its size, but his soul was certainly no smaller than Virion's one.

"What the hell...? What the hell is he doing...?" Aurora muttered while in disbelief as a shiver of restraining fear ran through her body.

"He's... he's burning his soul, isn't he?" Zero uttered with wide eyes as her face turned pale and a strange chill went through her.

Everyone who watched the fight felt the same way, even such strong beings as Sven, Alucard, Gael, Marlis, and Osvald. Wain's actions showed not only how desperate his situation was, but also how much he was willing to give up to win.

"Damn... He might not realize it now, but he's not only burning his soul, but it's also the soul of the Nameless King... or at least what's left of it..." Sven said while in disbelief as his gaze was fixed on Wain.

"I didn't expect this guy to be capable of something like this. They both used their last resort, but if Wain doesn't do something soon, he'll be dead in less than a minute." Osvald stepped forward as he crossed his arms across his chest with a serious expression. He respected those who fought to the very end, but even for him, burning his own soul was something out of bounds.

"Shit, it'll be a real disaster if all that energy comes out when the dome is gone..." Marlis bit her lip with a complicated look as she was horrified by the amount of energy Wain was emitting.

Whooooooooooooosh.

As soon as Wain began to burn his soul he immediately felt a surge of energy and was able to take a few more steps forward as there were no more than five meters between him and the monster. Normally he would have been able to cover that distance in an instant, but now it seemed like an endless way.

'Fuck... How did it come to this...?' Wain inwardly muttered as he took a step forward with an exhausted expression, 'It is so weird... I feel so much better immediately as Virion's pressure got weaker, but I feel like I'm rotting from the inside. Damn, this is bloody unpleasant, but also I've actually gotten stronger, maybe with a full sword I can kill the bastard.'

Step. Step. Step.

Wain slowly stepped forward while Virion used all the strength he could to stop Wain, just to nail him to the ground. Virion could have stuck a spear into Wain's back and ended their fight that way, but he just wouldn't have enough time to get to Wain as he would have to relieve the pressure to move forward.

'Shit, I'd thought almost every development through, but there's no way I could have expected him to decide to burn his soul just to get through the barrier!' Virion exclaimed to himself as he frowned, 'Well, I just need to keep the pressure on him anyway. Even if his soul explodes, I can still absorb his power after the fight.'

Even though Wain was calm, the forms were in a real panic.

'Wain! You shouldn't have done that!!! Light Racer exclaimed while waving his arms to the sides, 'This is crazy! You're actually going to die if your soul is completely burned!

The others supported him as even Gladius joined them and tried to stop Wain since his soul could still be recovered, the damage was not yet critical. However, Wain continued forward as if he hadn't heard them at all. He only had a few steps left, so he wasn't going to stop.

The only one who was silent was the Abyss Artist. He just stared at Wain's burning soul, as if he were hypnotized. Darkness not only filled everything in this space it was also everywhere around Wain as darkness emanated from him in dozens of streams like uncontrollable rivers with a raging current.

After a while a slight smile appeared on his face as he nodded his head, 'Fine, I was right as usual. Good thing I was prepared for Wain not to change as even in this situation he will go all the way.'

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Suddenly several streams of darkness rushed toward the beast as they turned into chains that chained it to the ground.

'What...? What's happening...?" Wain wondered as his eyes grew wide.

'It's the best I can do. Wain, take those last steps forward, and restore Gladius. Your soul will soon burn you out in no more than thirty seconds.' The Abyss Artist said seriously while dark trickles of blood flowed from the corners of his mouth. He could hardly stand on his feet as he had to sacrifice a lot to create a few chains when he was completely exhausted.

'Hah, sure, it's a good thing there's another madman like me to back me up, otherwise, I'd be lonely.' Wain grinned before stepping forward and reaching for the shard of his sword.